Category: Vicissitudes of Life

The average number of visits to my blog so far this year is about 65 per posting. I don’t know this many people, so a very warm “thank you” to friends and strangers alike. —————————————————————— There is an aphorism in journalism that can be encapsulated as follows: “When a dog bites a man, that is…… Continue reading langar – food and faith

Two weeks ago an opportunity presented itself to write about one of my heroes, Anne Frank. In this week’s blog, I write about another: Vera Brittain. I was drawn to reading Vera Brittain’s seminal book Testament of Youth last summer almost as an aside from my on-going research into aspects of the First World War…… Continue reading Vera Brittain – her Testament of Humanity

It was almost impossible to avoid fleeting glimpse of the horrific story of the Lebanese pilot who was put to death by ISIS while I was leafing through The Times as I was waiting my turn at our hairdressers on Wednesday this week. It was difficult enough trying to comprehend the news on Radio 4…… Continue reading Whatever happened to love and peace, man?

Given that it was the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau earlier this week, my mind turned to thinking about Anne Frank, particularly after I noticed a delightful photograph of a smiling Anne in the Radio Times above a notice for Michael Rosen’s excellent programme on Radio 4 last Tuesday morning: Anne Frank’s Trees:…… Continue reading Anne Frank’s lesser-known book, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau

At last, a new poem follows below: I’ve been working on this one for ages – at last it is finished.   The magnificent arc of Rhossili Bay can be found at the extreme western edge of the Gower peninsula in South Wales.  My wife and I have walked along the path that leads from…… Continue reading The Caravan Site

At last, a new poem follows below: I’ve been working on this one for ages – at last it is finished.   The magnificent arc of Rhossili Bay can be found at the extreme western edge of the Gower peninsula in South Wales.  My wife and I have walked along the path that leads from…… Continue reading Untitled

Our neighbour’s son was one year of age a few days ago. There is a fundamental beauty about the smile of a baby: first there is the impassive look before a smile spreads across his face. An unrestrained smile, elemental and pure, unaware of the world around him, making an innocent connection with a relative…… Continue reading Music and Smiles

I have neglected my blogs for far to long: I fully intend to post something here every week or two, starting early in the new year of  2015. Stuart Heritage in yesterday’s Guardian promised himself that he would be more optimistic from now on but that there was a flaw in his proposal: that the…… Continue reading Thursday 15th January 2015

A lot has happened since I last blogged about my dear mother.  She passed away on 17th of August while Annette and I were on holiday a few hundred miles away in the north of Scotland: I wouldn’t have been able to get back home and see her in hospital before she died.  I am…… Continue reading Jean Burnie Johnstone Etheridge (née Muir)

When Gethin asked me, a few months ago, whether I would like to join him and some other bike riders on a John O’Groats to Land’s End bike ride, my first reaction was something along the lines: “Are you crazy?  I couldn’t do anything like that, not with you club guys.  I’d be left far…… Continue reading John O’Groats to Land’s End Bike Ride